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>> so this was a lot of fun to get a chance and sort of of have a front row seat on the beginning of the conclave to choose the next pope in vatican city. pretty cool day at the office. >> not something you see every day. >> no, you don't. >> and no hidden cameras. no surveillances footage to come out. >> and they took everyone's cell phone away. i hate to use the word sequester again, but they're sequestered and could have a vote anytime between now and 3 p.m. eastern time and a couple hours from now as we look outside the vatican. faithful from all over the world come to see history in the making and we appreciate

you joining us this hour. >> remarkable to have this opportunity. "america live" continues coverage right now. >> megyn: fox news alert out of rome where we could see the results of the first vote for a new pope before this broadcast is finished. welcome to "america live" on this special day, everyone, i'm megyn kelly. at this hour, 115 cardinals are inside the vatican's sistene chapel, might be meditating we believe, at this hour on qualities needed for the next pope or possibly writing down right now who they believe should lead the world's 1.2 billion catholics. the at some point in this show we could get an indication how the selection process is going. if a vote happens each cardinal will write his choice on a piece of paper. a ballot will be placed on a round plate and then slid into an oval silver and gold urn. the ballots will be counted

and they will be bound together, sewed together in fact, and then burned. if we spot smoke rising from this chimney right here, skinny little smoke stack, we will then know whether or not we have a new pope. father jonathan morris is a roman catholic priest and a fox news contributor and enough tobogg be in rome. and the oath of secrecy was taken inside the vatican and they've kicked everybody out because they have work to do. can you just put it in perspective? because obviously the church has a lot going on and there are things to clean up and things to address, but the roman catholic faith and the catholic church and all the good it has done for billions of people in this world is somehow getting lost by some in this process. >> well, you know, megyn, to try to put this in the context

as you asked me, we have this solemn procession with all of these ornate garments. we have this very particular procedure that's going on, very precise in its execution and all of that is to help both the cardinals and us to lift our eyes to heaven to say, there is a spiritual reality going on, that it's important, and i find that to be a tremendous contrast, as well, to a very human side of what i've seen in the last two weeks of being here on the ground and talking to the cardinals and watching them meet in apartments and little, little gathering rooms and having a drink together and actually talking about names and talking about problems of the church and saying, things are not perfect, things are not right. we need change. and so, you have this contrast between the spiritual, the solemn, the rituals that are supposed to be pointing up to

heaven and when you walk into a church and you look up and you say, oh, that's beautiful and on the other hand, the human factor, call it politics, i like to call it the human factor and this is so much, it's a part of the messiness of trying to follow god in a world that's very weak and in human beings who are very weak. so that's what i see is this contrast, megyn, inspiring and sometimes discouraging, too. >> whoever it will be, will be in addition to a religious leader an inspirational leader for more than 1.2 billion catholics in this world. just look it, right now, they are cardinals and they are men of god, but when you ascend to the position of the pope, it is an entirely different matter and the effects the pope has on regular people across the globe, across the globe, is jaw dropping. i mean, people will be brought to tears just to get a look at him and people will stand in line for hours, perhaps, in

some instances days just to possibly have a chance to get anywhere near him because he will mean so much to them. he will embody so much for them. one man's life is about to change dramatically and is about to change the lives of so many people on this globe. >> megyn, you're absolutely right and i got to show that up close and to feel the sentiments up close. i was with cardinal dolan this morning as he packed his bags aboutorning to head off to the new residence of the santa marta residence where they're living during this time of conclave and watching him get ready to go downstairs and get on the bus and i asked him, your eminence, i was with him during most of the two weeks, your eminence do you have the names in your head? he said, we do have the names in our heads.

and that's how knitty gritty the practice gets down it and this is the reality of someone's life changing forever, knowing they're not anybody is looking to be a pope, there's something wrong, because their life is going to change so drastically and also, because they know that they're weak, weak human beings. and they're weak human beings and gives me great consolation, we don't need a perfect pope. the world doesn't need a perfect pope. jesus chose peter knowing that he would deny him three times when he needed him most at the moment of his agony. and jesus chose him from my faith point of view because he knew he would become a man who is contrite, sorrowful and knew his leadership wouldn't be based on human imperfection because he was in love with a man with god to give him redemption. here we have the contrast of the human and spiritual.

>> megyn: and can you speak to the challenge of the growing secularism we see he in the world today and how this pope -- obviously there have been issues in the catholic church and those have been well-publicized and to me a procedural matter and reputational matter not to mention an institutional one that the new pope will have to address and there's more on his plate of the growing challenge of secularism not to mention a movement towards more religious freedom as opposed to, you know, catholicism which the catholic church doesn't necessarily favor. how does the new pope take that on? >> you know, all of those issues are huge. we can think that the pope might travel and preaching, but he has to deal with the fact that he has the christian theme run out of countries right now, why? because they're christians. or not even just christians,

but another, another group of people, like the jewish people are being run out of some place because they're jewish. that's the pope's concern. those are huge issues, or how about the unity of christianity, of the protestants and the catholics together? those are big issues and then of course the very institutional issues which are very important. megyn, how can the catholic church or-- take on those huge issues of religious liberty that you brought up, whether they have corruption or what i would call clerical careerism invading the hierarchy here in rome, important things, tough things. >> megyn: there's so much at stake as we await a possible first vote for the new pope. father jonathan morris, so great speaking with you. thank you so much. >> my pleasure, megyn. >> megyn: well, as we have discussed, the color of the smoke pouring from the sistene chapel chimney will tell the world what we need to know. well, it will tell us

something happened, it won't give the identity. the ballots will be burned with special chemicals that burn white or black smoke. in this picture it's pretty clear, but times in the past it's pretty unclear. the vatican won't say exactly what the chemicals are, but the black smoke indicates no man secured the 77 out of 115 votes needed to become the next pontiff. need two-thirds of the voting. so then the voting would resume. the white smoke will signal that a new pope has been chosen. you see there, so it looks a little gray. it's like, is that gray, is that white? there's a pretty decent contrast and see them side by side as we see here back in 2005, that white smoke announced election of benedict xvi. there has been the bells of st. peter would ring out and help the regular folks figure out that it is in fact white smoke and gray looks pretty close to white so it's thing

like black is black, white or gray is white. we will continue to keep an eye on that chimney and we will bring you any breaking developments again. again, we believe the first vote and they're not required to vote right now. they could be conferencing and so on. and if it happens we will leave and take place before 3 p.m. eastern time. keep it right here. on to other news, there are breaking developments today in the national gun debate. new protests breaking out in colorado today as senate democrats there clear the way for a series of sweeping new gun control measures that could be the toughest in the nation. trace gallagher live in l.a. this morning, trace? >> reporter: and it's really kind of fascinating to watch, megyn, because you have the gun lovers paradise, the outdoors is paradise in colorado and totally the legislature of the democrats and could become one of the states with the toughest gun laws on the books. the state senate now passed five new gun bills and four

move onto the house and one goes to the governor to be signed. the republicans in colorado fought tooth and nail on two bills in particular, one requiring increased universal background checks and one went 15 rounds. and one was trying to get military members exempted from the gun magazine law and listen to the back and forth and why one of the democratic senators opposed that. >> these are all great and wonderful people and some of them come back with significant mental health problems and i think we need to check first. >> i really object to the stereotypical viewpoint that all military veterans, all military retainees-- or returnees have mental health problems. >> i did not say all had mental problems. i said some. but think of the chilling effect on active duty members

living in the state, if the state's going to say anytime that you may come back from overseas post traumatic stress syndrome, we're not going to let you have a weapon. >> reporter: and we shortened that to about 40 seconds, but that thing lasted five or six minutes of back and forth and republicans clearly again lost that. they didn't win one battle because there was a bill that would have banned concealed weapons on college campuses, but after some very compelling testimony from students who believe they would be less likely victims of crime, that bill was killed in the colorado senate, but again, these four bills will now go to the house and then on to the governor and he has vowed to sign them, megyn. >> megyn: all right. trace, thank you. and we are seeing new poll numbers that show the president's approval rating in some real trouble. at the same time we learn there are a record number of americans who have no faith in our government. chris stirewalt is next on what all of that means. plus, the first lady found

herself taking serious political fire yesterday after taking to twitter for what was supposed to be a conversation on u.s. health problems and her "let's move" initiative and wait until you see the feedback she got from some of the american folks tuning in. and the video that appears to show a toddler swapping his bottle for a marijuana bong, and lands his parents in serious trouble. we'll debate the mother's claim that this is all a funny little prank. [ male announcer ] this is kevin.

to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. >> well, after four months of being reelected, poll numbers show that president obama's approval rating is in real trouble. a poll shows that 45% of americans think the president is doing a good job. down 5% from december and his lowest rating since november, 2011. and that's not all. chris stirewalt is our fox

news digital power editor on power play foxnews.com live. and as we speak we'll put up a chimney box there. and we've got the capitol behind chris and the vatican below chris so we can keep watch on the smoke stack. if we see smoke coming out, you're out of here stirewalt. >> unless it comes out of the capitol then we've got a story. >> megyn: we do. the president's approval rating we did a story about this about a week ago showing he had dropped to about 46% in three different polls, the gallup, fox and pew if memory serves. he's gone back up in gallup, 49. but mcklasky puts him at 45%, they're saying the lowest level in more than a year. what is this tied to? >> well, this is tied to the fact that we have a government that can't function. we have no answers to big questions. the president had a plan that was audacious, which was he was just going to jam all the way through until the mid term

elections next year and do scorched earth on the republicans. knock them down and prove to americans it was their fault, their problem, their mistake and then beat them in the midterms. as he started down that path, he found out people don't have much patience, the voters, electorate are tired, tired, tired of gamesmanship and they'd like to see solutions and the president had to change course. >> megyn: now we see it's not just his approval rating is falling, but his disapproval rating is going up and for the first time, more people disapprove of his work than approve since november 2011, not only that, but his favorability, his personal popularity has declined. that was an area in which he always did well, chris, now they say 48% of voters have a favorable impression of him, 48% have unfavorable. it's tied up. that's unusual for this president. >> well, the stimulus scare

olympics did not probably do many great favors, for the public's esteem for the president when basically they had to say never mind, this stuff wasn't real, it was just something we were talking about that could be true. i think that probably accounts for a lot of frustration from people who have generally seen him as an honest guy. maybe they don't agree with everything, but thought of him as an honest guy and between him and the things that people in his administration did, i think his credibility probably took a whack there. >> megyn: congress isn't doing well. democrats a 31% approval in the u.s. congress, but when the folks are asked about who has a better approach when it comes to our budget deficit, they are now favoring congressional republicans over president obama, 44% to 42%. this is the item that's been in the news for the past, you know, two months, who was going to attack our deficit and how and this is something

that the president and his bully pulpit. he made full years trying to make the case for the congressional republicans and don't have the right priorities and he's got the better plan. >> well, there are a lot of republicans and quite a few democrats think the president is faking when it comes to the outreach republicans. if he's sincere in an effort to do a bigger deal then it's from numbers like you just showed. if he had to spend the next 18 months fighting tooth and nail, inch by inch with republicans over spending, taxes, and deficit, he's on unfriendly turf. that's not a good place for him to be. so ifs' trying to do a bigger deal, it's because he wants to get the 1.3 or 1.5 trillion dollars in new borrowing that he needs to get to the election. in one lump sum, get it out of the way and move on to talk about other things and he thinks a better advantage. >> megyn: he doesn't usually see his poll numbers fall below the republican poll numbers on anything and this is an issue number one in the news. i want to ask you about

another eye opening poll from pew which says, now, only three out of 10 americans trust our government. only three out of ten trust our government to make good decisions. look at that. that is fewer than ever according to pew. >> it's miserable and it is testament to this fact. the president would like to do big things. he would like the government to do more and bigger things. his strategy for getting the privilege to do more and bigger things with the government is to shut down and make the government dysfunctional. now, how do you convince people to trust you with more of their money and trust you with more power if you guys can't even shoot straight, you can't make anything operate here in washington. so it is, it's a catch 22 for the president. he thinks the way to get to more power and more money is to blow up-- has been to blow up his relationship with the republicans and bring everything to a grinding halt, but folks back home say why would we trust people with anything if they can't do anything right. >> megyn: it's not just

republicans, it is democrats and independents that have driven that number so low. even democrats are now saying, i just don't trust, i don't trust washington. i don't want to give them my money and don't trust them to get things done the right way. >> can you blame them? >> we'll leave that rhetorical question looming, along with -- where did it go? where is the chimney? it disappeared. it's coming up moments from now. thanks, chris. >> yes, ma'am. >> megyn: watch this. uh-huh. i guess the dark sky, it will be tough to see the smoke, won't it? but we'll try not to make a mistake. we're keeping an eye on vatican city where at any point during today's broadcast a puff are white or black smoke could tell us whether a new pope has been chosen. this is history in the making and we appreciate you watching it with us, live from the vatican all day. and a potential infestations of one of the most ferocious insects. a term you don't want to

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>> well, as the sink holes and burmese pythons were not enough. florida may soon find itself battling a massive, maybe not this big, but big mosquitos. they are called galley-nippers and they can grow to roughly 20 times the size of the average mosquito. and if it bites you, you'll feel it. scientists fear they may see a lot of these things because of the unusually wet weather and some of resistent to bug

repellent. just think about it. >> . >> bootlegging was another sinister development and women and men who drank added to those, and try to stop illegal rum running and illegal sales was helpless. despite raids speakeasies. >> megyn: and prohibition more than 90 years ago and lasted nearly a decade before full repeal. yesterday, a judge putting a preemptive stop, a new sort of prohibition, if you will, on new york city's ban on big sugary drinks, another form of evil. the new york post celebrating with this cover story, "pour it on." mayor michael bloomberg says it's a setback for new yorkers health and he's not giving up the fight. and in manhattan the mayor had

a news conference about the pressing news conference about this issue. >> reporter: well, it may not be in the 30's taking an ax in new york, but when the ban went into effect you could not buy this some places in new york city, the a 20 ounce soda and the ban limited it to 16 ounces. goodbye to the big gulp, but the ban was overturned. and we're at lucky's in midtown manhattan. the he along with a restaurant owner saying, it really is a matter with dealing with the amount of sugar and calories in the drinks. and the mayor says an obesity epidemic that are killing people. 5,000 deaths every year and plus, he says it's a matter of public health. >> and you hear everything bad, you know, you can't tell me what to drink.

drink whatever you want. six cans, you can have 12 fountain sodas, i don't care. at the end of the day if we offer you a 64 ounce and you drink it all, i think that's the worst thing you could do. you know, like shoving a cake back, a whole cake. >> we want the cost of health care is running away with the budget and obesity is going to be one of the primary drivers with if the current trend continues. >> reporter: well, as greg noted, critics say it's a violation of personal liberty. you can drink as much as you want, but the judge called it arbitrary and capricious, saying it raises government regulation to a whole new level. the industry is trying to work with the city health department in dealing with this issue and by the way, megyn, the 20 ounce, one of the biggest ones you have, and pointed out at the news conference, remember the coca-cola glass bottles, the green one, said those are six ounces, this 20, more than three times more soda or pop in this than the old days,

back to you. >> megyn: we are fat and mayor bloomberg is going to do something about it. thank you, eric. and he's not the only one, by the way. the first lady, michelle obama also worried about obesity in the united states. and she's been on her "let's move" campaign for some time and took to twitter yesterday to start a conversation that was supposed to focus on it and boy did she get some reaction. we'll show you some of that next. plus, former astronaut mark kelly has become one of america's most vocal and visionary gun control advocates, following the shooting of his wife gabrielle giffords and some are questioning his recent firearm purchase. we will have an investigator behind the story and bring it to you in just a bit. and tremor trifecta, new warnings, a string of earthquakes along the west coast may hint of something much bigger to come. should folks brace for another big one, like the '94 north

ridge quake? stay tuned. >> taking a look here at a section of the 10 freeway, what's called a concrete hinge, the beginning of the bridge that goes over fairfax. >> we're at the corner of reynaldy and the fire has gotten worse. >> part of the reason we're not seeing any traffic on the 118. five people killed in this particular structure. er ] what are happy kids made of? bikes and balloons, and noodles on spoons. a kite, a breeze, a dunk of grilled cheese. catches and throws, and spaghettio's. a wand, some wings, soup with good things. sidewalks and doodles and wholesome noodles. puddles and pails and yes, puppy dog tails. for a lunch like this, there's a hug and a kiss. because that's what happy kids are made of. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. because that's what happy kids (music throughout)

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>> a reminder, everyone, we're watching vatican city where any moment a puff of smoke from this chimney, you can't see it well at all. it's pretty black right now, but it's certainly if white smoke comes out, maybe we'll see it. trying to keep our eyes on this and see whether a new pope has been chosen. black smoke means not yet, blue smoke means the church has a new leader-- white smoke means that. the process resumes tomorrow where they could be four rounds of voting. and we'll show what happens if we hear the cardinals made their choice. stay with us. the white house may have gotten more than it bargained for yesterday when first lady michelle obama took to twitter to take questions about her "let's move" initiative. while she did answer questions about exercising and healthy eating. she got peppered with many questions on other topics, ranging from those canceled

white house tours to health care reform to benghazi, here are just a few examples. one person asked, where in the constitution does it state that flotus, short for first lady of the united states tells kids what eat. just wondering. will you ask your husband to stop stomping on my religious freedoms? okay, thanks, why have the media done more reporting on your bangs than benghazi, joining us to discuss whether it's appropriate, sally kohn, and david webb on patriot radio. that's the stuff we put in the intro was tame. >> he yes. >> megyn: i mean, they -- here is just a couple of-- here is a couple of examples. can someone volunteer to walk and groom your dog so the white house can be open for our school children's tours? just asking for a friend. and then they say, if our public schools are so good, why don't your kids go to them. what's the best vacation destination to escape to when

you feel like spending my tax dollars in style? your thoughts. >> look, most of the questions what healthy meals you should like and what sorts of exercise. >> megyn: and the answer-- >> and kick boxing, apparently. and you've got to give it to republicans and to the far right on this one. they have at least managed to be extremely consistent on attacking this administration for everything under the sun. i mean, the first george bush, he promoted exercise with arnold schwarzenegger, and the first lady promoted reading, and the far right of the republican party determined they're going to oppose every single thing that this president does and you've got to give it to them. >> megyn: i'm trying to think if laura bush had taken to twitter and received this sort of negative feedback about all of her husband's decision, most of it was directed, not all of it. >> it was a pathway to her husband, let's call it what it

is. >> megyn: i'm sure some on the right would be outraged that the sitting first lady was subjected to it. >> and i don't like disrespect, i'll tell you that up front. first of all, i don't know how you determine it was all the far right, it could have been libertarians, it could have been democrats. >> megyn: they weren't signing it. >> they weren't signing them, but these were people who were, while they were being disrespectful in some form, were echoing the frustration of americans with lack of transparency, with an optics, out of touch administration and more imperial family that has-- that gets a motorcade to go to petco, while the dog-- the royal dog gets a motorcade to go to petco, while $74,000 a week will let kids from iowa go to the white house. the millions of dollars that are spent, 190 plus million for air force one for some of the trips, 51 million annual in the white house could keep the white house open. >> megyn: they're speak to go

their frustration. >> and michelle obama, by the way. the nanny, we have nanny bloomberg in new york and we've got a nanny who wants to tell america and i'm all for exercise, nfl play 60, even our program, but the left that's led the charge to remove recess from schools which is where kids play. some of the things they said, well, maybe somebody's feelings will get hurt if they play tag. kids are-- >> not michelle obama, but i do want to say this. and i do want to say this, hold on. i was at the inauguration of barack obama both times, but on january of 2009 i stood there as first lady laura bush, outgoing first lady was booed. she personally was booed. barbara bush, you know, the said bush the elder, booed those first ladies. it's not unique to this first lady. >> you know, look, i kind of side with david of not disrespectful, but i think calling the presidency imperial would fall into that

category. >> megyn: the left and president bush? >> i don't think that attacks in general are appropriate for the politics and i've been obvious and outspoken on this for the left and right. when women speak out on the left and right they shouldn't get attacked on twitter and with rape threats and death threats and racist threats i know david gets when he speaks out from the the left or right. all of this, the fact that the president and first lady are attacked personally, it's inappropriate. that said, you know, the fact-- i sort of feel bad for republicans, you know, look, their issues are losing,they're less and less popular, losing voters and by any measure should have easily won and instead of dealing with their own increasingly irrelevant they're using smoke and mirrors of the media to pretend that these things small majority of people are concerned about are actually big issues for the public and the president-- >> the small minority of people are concerned about benghazi, that's a small minority.

by the way this isn't necessarily a far right or left issue, and i know you like to paint far left or right. and it's an issue of disrespect. it's an issue frustration by the american people with an administration that's been less transparent. it's a matter of redacted pages of black ink. there's a matter of no transparency when it comes to benghazi, fast and furious and other issues and frankly, the administration that said we want to work with the republicans, but in one case on the debt and deficit ballot didn't talk to republicans for 51 weeks. so we're talking about a marked difference in how they do business. >> but do you think that the first lady should be immune to this? now, she doesn't go out there. first lady michelle obama doesn't go out and do political speeches. >> she's made a few. >> megyn: she stuck the toe in and very visible lately with jimmy fallon and these things. but do you think s game for negative political feedback like this?

>> look, i don't think -- all is fair in politics. no, i don't think it's fair, it would be appropriate to say she's off limit because she played a campaign role, i don't think that's about you can't question her, can't challenge her. i think there's respect and there's accountability. so i think we should both sides of the aisle should hold all of our political leaders, she is by proxy of her relationship, political leader and be respectful. i'd like to see a bipartisan agreement, look, the bush administration was bad on transparency and obama has been bad on transparency let's be consistent. >> obama has been worse, by the numbers he's been gores. >> canceled white house tours, we know if they hadn't canceled the white house tours and the republicans would complain about that. >> megyn: they wouldn't complain if they canceled the white house stenographer-- the calligrapher, the tours are canceled, but calligrapher goes on. >> the white house tour

director. we're talking about the difference in how the people see the president and frustration there is. >> megyn: the frustration is there if you google-- we kept the tame ones on for the segment and some of them got rather unfortunate. panel, thank you both. a pleasure. well, a video that appears to show a toddler, a 22 month old swapping his bottle for a marijuana bong lands his parents in some serious trouble. you tell me in kelly's court should this mother ever see this child again? plus, breaking news in washington over a decision to award drone pilots a medal that would outrank those given to some combat soldiers. both sally and david are shaking their head no. we have an agreement on that one. we have a fair and balanced debate coming up. plus crowds have been searching in st. peter's square this hour, huge numbers of people waiting as the result of the first vote for a new pope could come any moment now. we're live in rome. stay with us.

>> the most important thing we can do is to make sure we control our own energy. so, here is what i've done since i've been president, we have increased oil production to the highest levels in 16 years. natural gas production is the highest it's been in decades. >> well, that was president obama touting his administration's efforts to expand oil exploration here in the united states, but a new report suggests the president may have gone too far in those claims. the congressional research service now says the oil boom is happening, but not on federal land. fox business network's lou dobbs, host of lou dobbs tonight and this is something that mitt romney challenged him on in the debates suggesting there's a difference between private exploration and federal land exploration. first, why does that matter? and what do the stats show us? >> a couple of ways in which

it does matter. it demonstrates clearly why having a mainstream media that is behaving as lap dogs rather than independent chroniclers and applying critical judgment can alter the outcomes in elections, this is what happens because this is a misrepresentation of a huge order on the part of the administration. now, is this president touting all of the above, energy as his position on energy. >> megyn: that he favors all of the above. >> he doesn't. tactful as a matter of fact we've seen production on shore, off shore, gas or oil declined by 40 to 50% during the the course of his administration. i repeat declined by 40 to 50%. looking at permits, looking at production from federal lands on shore and off shore again. >> megyn: they can make it a lot harder for you and slow you way down. >> and they've cut by just

over half in some instances, those permits. but on state and private lands, we are watching production boom. >> megyn: where the feds wouldn't be involved at all? >> the feds are not involved. they have certain regulatory responsibilities, but they're minuscule compared to the ownership and stewardship of the land, but there's another aspect of this that people are not focusing on. president obama has sent his interior department out in the national park service to scoop up as much land as they possibly can and withdraw it from both the state and the private land owners and secure it as federal property over which he has dominion, which is not a good thing for production. >> megyn: see similar results for that land as the federal lands the past years. >> and which this president is talking about all of the above energy nonsense. i mean, it really is nonsense. the fact is we're on our way right now, if he just

continues the same policies with federal lands, we will be a net exporter of gas, natural gas, in this country by 2020. we will be a net exporter of oil by 2030 or thereabouts, 2030, 2035. >> megyn: what is the significance of that? >> the significance is, you're no longer dependent on a very volatile middle east. we are no longer vulnerable to the political leverage of the middle east. and we become an important exporter and provider and supplier of energy to those nations who are absolutely starved right now, china. >> megyn: how do we get there? >> by producing oil, exploring our natural resources. we can get there and accelerate them to the tune of 350 billion dollars a year if we can reverse that increments

of years earlier and this president doesn't want to talk about it. the national media isn't talking about it. they want to talk about these silly cars that, you know, they spend our money on. they go bankrupt and kin continue the battery revolution that doesn't go anywhere. meanwhile, all of the oil refiners, all of the oil producers, all of the oil exploration companies are actually changing the way in which the country is going to be living a decade from now. >> megyn: wow. it's interesting, the statistics are really shocking when you see that all the increases you've seen from '07 to 12 nonfederal lands. >> it is, and you know what else? we are, over the course of the last five years we have seen our petroleum exports improve by 50%. >> megyn: wow. lou, thank you. >> thank you. >> megyn: coming up new warnings from yesterday's west coast earthquake suggesting the tremors may be the harbinger of something much bigger to come. trace explains. and breaking in washington the

pentagon made a big announcement about a new military medal signed to honor drone pilots above those who earned theirs in the combat in the field. ♪ wireless is limitless. [ female announcer ] from finding the best way... ♪ to finding the best catch... ♪ wireless is limitless.

>> reminded that we're watching vatican city where any moment a puff of smoke from this chimney could tell the word whether a new pope has been chosen. black smoke means not yet, white smoke means the catholic church has a new leader. we will be watching the whole time and go live to the vatican in moments. >> the oakland a's-- >> oh, oh (screams) >> the entire upper deck of the infrastructure has

collapsed and fallen on the lower deck. from here we cannot tell what's beneath the upper deck, but one could only guess. >> megyn: look at those pictures. remember that, san francisco in '89? the aftermath of the quake that struck the pay area, telling nearly 70 people. now, some experts are warning of a potential disaster after a series of earthquakes shook portions of southern california yesterday. trace gallagher has the very latest on that live from l.a. trace? >> reporter: yeah, "america live" on the air, we had the cluster of earthquakes, back-to-back to back, it was in palm springs, you could feel them in san diego county, orange county, the strongest to hit southern california in more than three years. usgs finally came to 4.7 magnitude of those. no real damage, no injuries. that's the good news. the bad news, some believe this wasn't a stand alone quake, but a foreshock of something bigger.

listen. >> and it's possible that there will be larger events, always a 5% chance that one of these events is a foreshock to a larger earthquake. and so the theme of this, we live in earthquake country, if we live in southern california. we need to be prepared. >> reporter: here is the deal. here is the reason because the san andreas fault, a line that runs down through the state. that's what they say when they talk about the big one in california falling into the ocean, that's what they're talking about. this quake was right next to the san andreas fault. let me show you an aerial view here. the fear is that so much stress has built up in the san andreas fault and not released that the fault lines could lead to the san andreas and become. did i mention it's 72 and

sunny outside. >> megyn: we await the smoke that could change the world. it could come at any moment and we go live to rome next. [ male announcer ] what are happy kids made of?

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>> fox news alert. to vatican city where crowds have been surging into st. peter's square in the just the last hour to witness history in the making, right now inside the sistene chapel in a tradition dating back to the 13th century, the election of a new pope and the results could come at any moment. brand new hour here of "america live," i'm megyn kelly. it's a special day and this does not happen every day and the official process is now underway in rome, italy. as the conclave of cardinals has sealed itself inside the chapel, having just a little over an hour ago, after each cardinal took an oath of secrecy before us all and told folks they needed to leave. 115 princes of the church will

remain there in seclusion until a choice is made. the faithful are gathering in st. peter's square and watching the vatican chimney intently, as you see it here, waiting for a sign. any sign. white smoke means they've elected a new pope. black smoke signifies, not yet. and we may see the first puff of smoke before the end of this hour. our own shepard smith, anchor of studio b and joins us live from rome. what a ceremony we witnessed this morning. it was beautiful inside the sistene chapel and now we don't get to participate in this part, shepard, we have to watch and wait. >> and that's one of the things that italians will talk to you about, megyn, how the church is clamoring for openness in such great need of transparency and suggesting many of them, that one thing they might be able to do is in some way open up this process so that people feel more a

part of it all. there are so many you'll speak with who will say it's the transparency that helped cause some of the catholic church's overriding concerns today and that what they need is transparency. well, maybe we'll have it with this next pope. it's a group of reformers who want to move the process of fixing the church's problems along, versus in many ways, a group of romans, people of the curia who lead the church and seem to prefer to keep things more steady the way they are, a big moment for the church and all over the world. >> megyn: you know, when you look at the history of the papacy, it's been mostly italians. mostly italians and then we had pope john paul ii from pola poland. pope benedict from germany and even when it started people said forget about an american pope, a little more, and hearing cardinal o'malley from boston and pope dolan from new york and canadian cardinals

all who may have a shot at this thing. >> it certainly sounds like it. i think that probably the italians greatest hope is a man from milan widely seen as a reformer with whom maybe there might be-- the thinking is he might get 40 votes on the first ballot, but it takes 77 and then you mentioned the canadian, another reformer, and then cardinal o'malley and dolan are certainly on the list and i think, megyn from all i've been able to gather and those who watch the papacy and process all their lives. we will have a first vote, a reformer, less than 77 the thinking is. for the next vote, another who is of his way of thinking will get some of those votes and try to form a number that would reach 77 and the process goes on and depending how long it takes, the canadian, and then the two americans might have a better shot. when you speak to those who watched it so closely for years and are reform-minded,

will tell you dolan may not be bad for church, he's outspoken, to the point and very open about his desires to reform the church on so many levels from the banking scandal, to vati-leaks and the crisis in the church regarding children and sex, and whether that sort of openness would be welcome among the fold here in rome where, as you mentioned, for hundreds of years the italians had a lock and strong hold on the papacy, whether that would be a welcome and open things remains to be seen. >> we'll see. >> megyn: he's likeable and can talk to folks in a way they can understand and that's one of battles the church is facing, increasing secularism and how do they recruit new catholics and existing ones in the polls and many believe it would help to have a straight-talking pope who is very appealing. i want to ask you, shepard, you talk about the first vote, they don't think they'll get to 77 and takes some rounds. so, why are you being told. jockeying inside the conclave? is it appropriate for them to,

you know, be whispering and banding together and saying, he got 40, but if we banded together and got him over the 77 threshold. >> that would be politicking and not appropriate for everyone who monitors this thing and in the case of one of our producers, the fifth pope, that's exactly what happens. there's been politicking going on a long time and the last week trying to figure out the west way to tackle the problems and they'll be politicking by definition almost over the next few days, but what this is about is each man in prayer hearing from the lord and praying about what is the best way to be able to spread the gospel of the lord to the followers and those who would be followers around the world. and think of that contest of one person who can relate to both a new yorker and someone in south africa and someone in australia and someone in, i don't know, it's just having a

voice to speaks to everyone on his or her level and with her or her understanding of the world is an enormous challenge and should try to figure a government who would be able to do such a thing. there's not one. it's very difficult for the church and part of their growing pains after all the centuries. >> megyn: it's amazing, even for catholics who are not that observant, just getting a look at the pope, being near the pope and knowing that the pope is coming to your city for a visit and you will be able to personally witness it, knowing his presence is likely is such a moving experience, even for those who are not that faithful. not that observant. i've seen it myself. when the pope comes to new york, we've talked about it at length, in any event, what pa great front row seat to history, shepard. we'll keep our eyes on you and the chimney. >> indeed, thank you, my friend. >> megyn: see you soon. here is how the procedure will work, up to four rounds of voting are allowed each day after this one. today is the day only one vote

if any. a two-thirds majority. needed, 117 cardinals and two are not voting, 115, two-thirds of that is 77. if no one is elected after three days, then the cardinals take a break. that could last up to entire day. voting will then resume and if there is still no pope he elected after seven more ballots, they'll take another break. they'll pray, reflect, and it can go on like that for 12 days. after that, it would be a run-off between the top two contenders, although normally they say this process takes about three days on average. that's, you know, the norm. so we'll see how quickly this gets done with. now look at the folks waiting in st. peter's square: and again, if anything happens at the vatican, and we see smoke of any kind. we'll go back for breaking news. we're tracking a developing

story this hour in the national gun control debate. it involves questions about why one of the most vocal supporters for stricter gun control laws has recently purchased an ar 5 rifle which has been one of the weapons most criticized by folks who want to see fighter gun control laws. mark kelly, who is the husband of former congresswoman gabby giffords and an astronaut is defending his own purchase of the rifle and a handgun, both weapons were bought just one day before he spoke at a rally for gun control. trace gallagher has the story live now on our west coast news room, trace? >> and so megyn, you have some who claimed that mark kelly got caught buying an assault rifle and mark kelly says, no, no, he was testing the system. what happened, earlier this month, you see it there, he walked in a tucson gun shop and bought as you said ar-15 assault rifle and .45 caliber handgun. the next day he appeared at a gun control rally at the very same shopping plaza where his

wife gabby giffords was shot two years ago, now, breitbart.com was about to break the story of kelly's buying the assault weapon when kelly posted on his facebook page that he was turning the assault rifle in to tucson police. then he appeared on cnn and when he was asked, hey, what gives, he said this. >> it's important for me to have firsthand knowledge about how easy it is or difficult it is, you know, to buy a weapon like that. you know, we're -- you know, it's through a background check and obviously at a federally licensed gun dealer, but it's important for me to know, you know, what it is and you know, to have firsthand knowledge. >> reporter: now, he certainly has made no bones about the fact that he is a gun owner, saying that he and gabby are proud gun owners, but he has to draw the line somewhere. now, here is the irony about him turning in his assault rifle to the tucson police because in arizona there's a law that mandates that voluntarily surrendered guns be treated as assets.

and sold off to help balance the arizona budget so it's likely the gun that mark kelly turned in to tucson police could end up in the hands of somebody else. megyn. >> megyn: all right. trace, thank you. we're seeing new questions today about whether the president may actually be an obstacle for democrats seeking reelection or election to the house in 2014. we'll look at whether next year we would witness a repeat of the republican landslide of 2010 and if democrats will break from the commander-in-chief on key issue and following their own marching orders. plus the parents of two children including this 22 month old may face charges after mom helping the toddler with a marijuana bong. she claims it was a prank. should she see this child again or lose her parental rights? there's more on this story and we'll take it up in kelly's court.

and the pentagon making decisions about new military medals to be awarded to drone pilots after lawmakers launch a bipartisan backlash against the award that would actually outrank the purple heart and the bronze star. we'll speak with a decorated vietnam vet and a man who achieved awards in accomplishments more recent and what they think. >> a person who sits in a climate controlled room with three square meals a day, possibly a coffee cup sitting beside him controlling these drones is going to get a medal rated higher than a person that was on the battlefield. . that guy, put him in it. what's this? [ male announcer ] tell him he's about to find out. you're about to find out. [ male announcer ] test it. highlight the european chassis, 6 speed manual, dual exhaust, wide stance, clean lines, have him floor it, spin it, punch it, drift it, put it through its paces, is he happy?

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>> all eyes on vatican city this hour where we could see a puff of smoke from this chimney. any moment now we were told they believed if it would happen it would be before 3 p.m. eastern. that's the last thing we were

given. they're doing their thing and they're not subject to our clock. we're waiting to see whether a vote is taking place and whether they have managed in fact to select a new pope. if they have, the smoke will be white, if they have, but taken a vote, the smoke will be black. if there is no smoke, they have not taken a vote at all. we'll continue to watch and update you. >> placed in order of precedence, secretary hagel will work to review the precedence in the review of that. and they'll report back in 30 days. >> megyn: breaking news from washington. that was the pentagon spokesman george little speaking a short time ago on the decision to review the distinguished warfare medal that would honor drone pilots. the military has stopped production of the medal after backlash from veterans groups and a bipartisan group of

lawmakers who are outraged that this medal honoring work far from the battlefield would rank above combat medals for those who have served on the front lines, including the purple heart, and the bronze star. pete is the ceo of concerned veterans for america who has been awarded a bronze star for service in iraq and lt. colonel bill cowan, a fox news military analyst and retired marine officer has been awarded three purple hearts. thank you so much for being here. this is interesting because chuck hagel, the defense secretary stood behind this decision, he thought this was fine to rank this medal above the purple heart, above the bronze star, citing the chief -- the military chiefs who he said told him it was appropriate, but now there's been such a backlash, they are reconsidering. they haven't reversed it entirely, but reconsidering it. pete, your thoughts on it? >> well, there's a big difference. i think they've figured out

from the backlash there's a big difference between being in combat and supporting combat and that should be reflected in the types of rewards we give. heroism and the things that use in battle is something that requires risk and there's a lot different risk calculation when you're looking the enemy in the eye on the ground versus from a comfy chair with a it doesn't make it it not important, but there's a very big difference there that should be reflected in the type of awards and look at a guy like bill, wounded multiple times vietnam, that should be honored above 20th century warfare, but not above boots on the ground. >> megyn: and here is what chuck hagel said initially, his initial position, look, there are other noncombat medals that already rank higher than the bronze star that usually recognize valor. the medal of honor, silver crosses, awarded for heroism

in combat and higher in prestige than this medal. >> well, nonetheless, megyn, and i don't think anybody wants to deny people that work the drone program some kind of recognition, because they deserve it, they do a wonderful job and they bear a burden at the end of the day. when they fire the missiles and a long process before it gets to the order to fire they know that there may be collateral damage on the ground and innocent people killed. they don't make the decision to shoot and pull the trigger, but nobody want today deny them recognition for what they do, but at the end of the day, it is a matter of precedence of medals. what's more important, as pete just said, that young marine, that young sailor, soldier, somebody out there who is engaged in combat who is fighting for maybe hours, staying in the field forever, and maybe he gets in a fire fight and he wins a bronze star, he or she, or wins a purple heart. to make that less, less important than somebody

granted doing a good job, but still sitting at the desk and at the end of the day when their time on the desk is done, they get up, go home, see their wife and family and dinner, essentially a normal life. you make the key point on the teaser coming into the segment, it's a real group of bipartisan members of capitol hill who have attacked this pretty vigorously and i looked at the list of bipartisan people. very interesting to see who signed up as not supporting this decision. >> megyn: oh, yeah, they're reviewing this at the pentagon because they have to. and chuck hagel made his position pretty clear he thought this was appropriate and now, the outcry is getting apparently too loud for them to ignore and just want to-- i didn't mean to suggest that the medal of honor, silver cross and silver star and they're still above both of the medals, bronze star and the medals for the drone operators. pete, what they're saying is that it's heroism in combat, although this is unconventional combat.

the drone operators may sit in a room removed from the field, but they have to make the decision and they have to execute kill orders and that takes bravery and it takes courage and deserves recognition. >> it does deserve recognition, but plenty of medals that currently exist that can be used to recognize, a commendation, or meritorious service medal or higher ranking medals that could be given to superior drone pilots or cyber warriors. i think this is something the administration and pentagon were trying to use to demonstrate those aspects of warfare today are increasingly more important and wanted to t try to reflect that, but you can't get away ultimately, war will be fought on the ground. this is a rough week for secretary hagel. here he is capitulating on this medal and he was just in afghanistan three days ago with the president there saying that we were collaborating with the taliban and all he could say was it's not true. we need resolve and certainty

in that position and we're not getting that right now. >> megyn: i'll give you the last word, lieutenant cowan, as somebody who has, both of you guys, put your lives on the line, with respect to the combat drones, the drone operators, that's not what they're doing. i'll give you the last word on the distinction. >> well, it's not what they're doing. they're not putting their lives on the line and not to say they're not working hard, not to say they don't deserve recognition. secretary hagel came in i'm sure he had a stack of papers of things to address a mile high, this is one of them that made its way through. he's a combat veteran and he may sit back now that he knows there's a lot of attention on this issue and sit back and think differently and get people to do review. i'd be surprised if the policy doesn't change on this particular medal, megyn. >> megyn: and the american legion, the vfw, so many veterans coming out and saying it doesn't sit well with them. with all due respect to the drone operators. thank you so much. >> thanks, megyn. >> megyn: big news from nasa this hour as they make a huge

announcement of the potential, repeat potential for life to have once existed on mars. that's next. and we're live at the vatican for history making moments na could come any second. stay with us. none of us would want to be told we can't marry the pern we

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>> you're looking live at rome, italy. just about two hours ago they locked the doors of the sistene chapel leaving the crowds outside and the cardinals inside. any moment we could get the results of the first vote for a new pope. it's not the guaranteed they're taking one, but if they are, then we will see smoke come out of the chimney momentarily. black smoke means they have not yet managed to find the new pope. they need 77 votes for the same person. white smoke means the catholic church has a new leader and the folks are already gathering in st. peter's square watching the chimney as

we will continue to do throughout the hour. stay with us right here. and this is a fox news alert. it's a breaking news from outer space, as nasa just revealing the idea of ancient martians could actually have been a reality. all right, trace, what's the story? >> reporter: look, i've got to tell you, he megyn, evmegyn, ev you're not a space geek. this is a big deal. what happened is curiosity rover actually dug a sample of bed rock in what they believe to be an old martian stream or river bed, if you will. and that's it right there. and first showed the rock multiple periods of wet conditions, you know, generation after generation showing that mars once again had water not just salt water, but fresh water, but this thing gets much better. then it drilled out powder from the rock and tested it and now scientists have identified sulfur, nitrogen,

hydro again, phosphorus and carbon. if you remember back in your science classes from high school, those are the building blocks of life, not only that, but the rock has the same makeup that supports life here on earth. nasa says and i'm quoting out of the study, a fundamental question of this mission is if mars could have supported a habitable environment and the answer they say is yes. i mean, curiosity, as now, landed seven months ago and it's there for a two year mission and might be longer, if the batteries last longer. it found water in different part of the planet just a couple months ago, three months ago and now they believe, megyn, are the building blocks of life. that's for nasa the holy grail, why they went up there, an astounding find and keep looking to find out if there are other parts of the planet that give them better clues to what was once there on the planet surface, pretty cool. >> what will they find?

all right, trace, thank you. >> okay. >> megyn: new questions today whether president obama could become the biggest obstacle for democrats seeking reelection in 2014. up next, a critical look at some early worries for the mid term election. plus, this video of a 22 month old with a bong is landing his parents in a whole lot of trouble. both are now facing criminal charges. mom claims it was just a prank. should she lose custody of this child? kelly's court takes up the case. >> my son is just over that age and i wouldn't-- i would never think of doing something like that with him. actually i'm a medical marijuana patient myself and i do it responsibly and to me, that's just-- i'm aghast that someone would do that. i know you got to go in a minute but this is a real quick me, that's perfect for two! campbell's chunky beef with country vegetables, poured over rice! [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right.

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>> we are watching vatican city right now. and let us tell you what is happening inside the sistene chapel, possibly. if they are voting, which we are not totally sure of. but if they are, here is how it goes down. each cardinal will write on a piece of paper inscribed with the words, i elect the supreme pontiff the following, whoever they want and approach the altar one by one. i call as my witness christ the lord who will be my judge that my vote is given to the one before god i think should be elected. the folded ballot is placed on a round plate, it's slid into

an oval silver and gold urn and then the counting begins. after that, the ballots are bound together with a needle and thread and they are burned in the chapel stove, along with a chemical that will produce either black or white smoke and that's why we are watching that chimney, to see whether we'll see some black smoke or some white smoke or any smoke. every time a new pontiff is chosen in a conclave, they call this a senior cardinal goes up to him and asks, and by what name do you wish to be called? the question is popped immediately, and while everyone is still locked inside the sistene chapel. so the winner needs to have done some homework and picked his name prior to the final vote. again, we could see the puff of smoke from the vatican chimney at any time. we'll continue to watch it and take you there live as soon as the news breaks.

well, president obama may have won a second term, but there are new questions about whether he may be the biggest obstacle to democrats retaking the house in 2014. which is said to be the president's goal. some democrats in the districts which could determine the party that controls the house say the issue the president made his top priority in this term are creating serious political problems for them. joining me now, leslie marshal, syndicated radio talk show host and chris plante, host of the chris plante show. we've heard so much after the president was gnawiinaugurated second time around his goal is to control that house in 2014, and democrats would control the white house, the house and senate. and now it's emerging more and more concerns that actually the democrats who would have to do it, who would have to run right now in the republican districts, is not so much about the republican counterparts, but about him,

about their democratic president, chris. can you explain? >> well, the president is the leader of the democratic party. you know, if you live in one of these districts, first of all, they're republican districts that they need to win back so the president and democrats are already at something of a disadvantage. you've also got the president at the hub of the wheel in washington and washington is completely and utterly dysfunctional and if you live in one of these democratic districts, what you're voting for is like one-party rule in washington. that might help to break the gridlock, but it could also, you know, one party rule we saw what happened in the therst obama's first term in office with obamacare and running rough shod over the republicans. i don't think people want to see one-party rule in washington and republican districts, it's going to be hard to get a democrat to both a republican, particularly when the voters know that they're handing everything over to president obama and

his agenda. >> megyn: you know, leslie, to win control of the house because we've heard this is the president's goal and what he wants. but for democrats to win control of the house in 2014 they would have to have a net gain of 17 seats and all of their battles, virtually all of their battles are going to be in republican controlled districts or districts that mitt romney won. when they did that in 2006 there was an unpopular republican president in the white house against whom they could run. it is a very different situation this time around. >> it's a very different situation, but on many levels. i mean, one, some of these districts are very conservative and, quite frankly, i don't know if the president will get his wish, but i certainly know democrats will pick up seats as they actually did in the last election, even though republicans maintained control of the house. and part of that is the literal changing face of the voter. even in some of these districts. women, latinos, african-americans, weighing

much more heavily in the the vote. chris, when you mentioned things like the affordable care act, you have two very outspoken, chris christie, and i don't agree with democrats blaming the president. i think that democrats actually have a very good position because right now the republican party is lacking leadership, it's extremely fragmented and very confused on what its image should be to be able to obtain the new demographics. >> megyn: what are the concerns? i've heard gun control mentioned and the president wants gun control and that's a dicey issue because american people are divided on many proposed measures. i get that one. they mention immigration and gay marriage. more than we've seen in years, support right now on both sides of the aisle for immigration reform and the support for gay marriage is building and building. so how are those going to be

the deciding and most divisive issues? >> well, i mean, i think that's going to be a district by district, region by region, state by state issue. florida and governors accepting after arm twisting what obamacare mandates i don't think is necessarily going to be a huge issue for voters in congressional races, but you've got a situation where the president is losing ground right now, his poll numbers are headed in the wrong direction if you're the white house, and you're going to see in all probability because of the gridlock in washington and the total dysfunction, a president who is go to become increasingly unpopular between now and election day. now, leslie, you said you think that the democrats will pick up seats in the mid terms. a little premature to make predictions like that, i think. the democrats are planning on picking up seats, that doesn't mean they're going to, a lot could happen between now and then and the president is not going to be gaining ground as polarizing as they are, and

polarizing as they're making the debates. and certainly not with the the president and one party rule and eventually people are going to hold barack obama, the president of the united states, responsible to at least to some extent to the dysfunction in washington. he's blamed the bush administration for the first four years and that's not going to hold. >> megyn: on that front, the president has recently begun his outreach, leslie to republicans, and you know, it's been five years and now he's starting to reach across the aisle. his supporters at the white house want us to believe it's been happening for five years, but it hasn't, it hasn't. they don't get along, they don't like each other, republicans don't him and he doesn't like them, but now he's trying because, he wewell, don't know why, i'll leave it up to the viewers. and his poll numbers are falling, 45% in the latest poll, record low since november of 2011. and his personality likability ratings are even going down. he needs to reverse that for

him to have, you know, the goodwill to convince people to throw the bums out, as they say, and put democrats in, which is what he wants. >> well, i think he can do that. i mean, certainly, we know looking at polls, whether it's a presidential election, and we also know that presidents have a harder time being as popular unless there's some huge event in their presidency in the second term. chris, i think it's funny how your crystal ball about the president and his approval ratings keep going down is accurate, but my crystal ball about democrats gaining seats in the house is a bit premature. maybe we're both being clairvoyant here. let me take my crystal ball and be clairvoyant. the president sees that the americans dismake congress more than him, and the failures if we had fallen off the fiscal cliff. so, the president, and i agree with you, megyn, he should

have reached out earlier, i totally agree with that, but he sees, and i'm even seeing those left and right talking about, we've got to get something done and that's who is going to get thrown out are people that are unwilling to work at some level together to compromise to get things done for the good of the american people. because the congressional numbers approval ratings are certainly more frightening and worrisome, i think, as a voter than a president. >> megyn: the approval ratings are just dreadful for congress as they have been, really forever. they never get good approval ratings and the latest in this-- and they're bad and trust me when i have it. congressional republicans 26% approved of them and it's like 34% for the democrats, anyway, the numbers are dreadful, we'll leave it at that. thank you both so much. >> thank you, megyn. >> megyn: coming up next, speaking of dreadful, the parents of two young children think it would be funny if their 22 month old simulates a bong hit? we're going to have a fair and balanced debate whether they

should ever see their child again. first this. >> fox news alert, as we see black smoke coming out of the chimney of the vatican. there has been a vote, they have not found the new pope. we were not certain whether there would be a vote at all today. we're told they did not have to take one, but they expected there would be one. they also expected if there were a vote, that it would lead to this result. yesterday, we were told that typically in this scenario, they might vote for someone who's had a long career of service to the church, an honorary vote, if you will, just recognizing somebody in their extraordinary efforts on behalf of catholics in the church and the first vote does not typically result in the election of the pope. and you can see with your own eyes that's the case now. we do not have a new pope, but they have taken a vote and we talked about the procedure

moments ago. each cardinal went in and wrote his choice on a paper. that reads "i elect as supreme pontiff the following" the procedure is old and it is historic and it is well-scripted. they place that folded ballot on a round plate. they slide it into an urn. the votes are counted and they need 77 to find a new pontiff and they apparently did not have that. now what we're seeing is they have bound the ballots together with a needle and thread and burned them in the chapel along with a chemical that produces black smoke. so they have in the elected a new pontiff on day one of the official proceedings, that means we'll proceed to day two. tomorrow up to four rounds of voting will be allowed and again, they need that two-thirds majority of the 115 voting cardinals in order to get the new pope. if no one is elected after three days, the voting will pause. it's very early.

normally, historically, takes about three days. so, this is -- there's nothing shocking about what we're seeing right now, although it is dramatic and our own amy kellogg is a witness to it all live in rome. amy? >> hi, megyn, i don't know if this even compares to the beautiful scenes we saw at the sistene chapel today, but it's certainly dramatic to be out here on st. peter's square with lots of people in the pouring rain, very cold, but obviously, people from rome and around the world have been dying to know if there was going to be a new pope tonight or not. of course, we had been set up to believe that it probably wouldn't happen tonight, but nevertheless, this all happens in such intense secrecy and the cardinals did have their meetings last week. and they did get closer and closer to being on the same page, or so they said. so, it was altogether possible that the smoke coming out of the sistene chapel this evening could in fact have been white.

there are seagulls flying over st. peter's basilica, as you can he see is beautifully illuminated and occasionally one would fly in front of that chimney and blink and wonder if in fact that was smoke, but we just got the real smoke, the black smoke and sometimes of course depending on time of day, depending on the weather conditions it's kind of hard to tell whether it's white or black, and the vatican said they would not be clarifying anything with a text message. we would all have to hang in a bit of suspense as we no doubt will have to do for at least another 12 hours, maybe more. they'll be back at it tomorrow in the conclave casting another possibly two votes before lunch time, megyn. and we'll be watching. >> megyn: absolutely. amy kellogg, thank you so, so much. joining me now by phone is the editor of global post. a long time observer of the vatican who covered the papal transition last time around.

great to see you. not a big surprise, well, that they took a vote and it did not result in the election of a new pope. >> no, i think it would be very unusual to get the cardinals to be in agreement that quickly. i think it is possible by, say, thursday and we'll know when the light smoke appears. you know when the black smoke appears they're burning ballots and they'll go back at it. one interesting bit of analysis i saw, is that the general thinking is that if it goes beyond the two days, so if he we go past thursday, that that would mean that the front runners, this would be the cardinal from milan who is not a part of the curia, but is an italian, and the cardinal from brazil, who was formerly a part of the curia who speaks italian of german descent and represents the global south where the church

is growing the most, those two leading candidates if he ne don't emerge quickly, one or the other, that would mean it's opened to the field and then i think we could potentially be in for some surprises, but you know, everyone is reading tea leaves, no one knows for sure, but certainly, they are, i would say they're, you know, general consensus that they are the two frontrunners at this point. >> megyn: what do you make of the fact that they did vote and that they did not come to an agreement? i mean, is it true as it was suggested to us yesterday, that sometimes the first vote is a bit more ceremonial. done to honor someone inside that conclave? >> you know, thats was the case last time, if i am remembering correctly, that there is a sort of ceremonial, just sort of everyone, everyone cast as ballot and they don't expect to reach unanimity unway or the other and that they burn the ballots ceremoniously. no one of us knows because the

doors are locked and the cardinals are inside and we're not. i'm in boston, i'm not even in rome, but i think it's just impossible to know some of the ritual as it unfold in there, but i do remember in the aftermath we learned in the last papal transition. >> megyn: now you mentioned one of the frontrunners for the position and that's cardinal scola of milan. >> right. >> megyn: who as you point out is sort of outsider and an insider at once. he's italian. a lot of our viewers realize that pope john paul ii was the first non-italian elected in 455 years. i mean, the italians have the inside track, do they not? >> they absolutely do and they always have, and i guess history would suggest they always will, but the question is, you know, scola represents -- you put it very well, that he's sort of inside and outside candidate. he's the insider in the sense

he's italian. he's an outsider in the sense that he's not part of the qureia, the inside of the vatican. he's good on islam and christian relations and it's been his area of expertise and certainly, a theme that needs attention in the world. and there's so many friction points between islam and christianity that we read about in the news all the time so he's an interesting candidate. and the other cardinal seen as the leader and seen more as a qureia insider because he long served within is scherrer, the archbishop of sao paolo in the world with the country with the largest catholic population in the world which is brazil. >> megyn: absolutely. so he would bring on board many latin americans, they believe, which is strongly catholic. i want to tell our viewers, this is video from moments ago we're just seeing of the black

smoke coming out of the chimney. when we have a new pope we will see white smoke and also hear the bells st. peter's toll. none of that is happening right now because they have voted, they didn't have to, they decided to, and they have the not yet reached agreement. we go live now to our own shepard smith who is live in rome as the action there unfolds and shepard, so far nothing. >> reporter: so far as expected. and they didn't have to vote, as you said, they could vote. they did vote and the widely held belief was here, that was a great conversation you were just having. it's exactly what we're hearing all over the place here, there are two top contenders and if we get past two of them, that's when it's kind of wide open. when cardinal ratzinger, benedict came forward and began this process as sort of master of ceremonies of it all, he laid out a way of going forward which suggested that he might be the front runner. it was widely believe it was

sort of his to lose. that's what we were reporting in 2005 and sort of went to script. this time it's not like that. this time there are these two, one who is a reformer and one from inside the qureia and one who seems to have the mind of keeping the power within the qureia and the other who wants to blow it up see if they can't got it in play. and if neither one gets 77. and father jonathan morris has been watching as well, to say that it's about conservative, conservatives and liberals, is really wrong. but this is more about power. >> by definition he's conservative and the main job is to pass on the faith or the teachings of the faith so to say that this pope is liberal doesn't make sense because that's what catholicism teaches. that said, it doesn't mean they're very human faction, what we've been seeing on the

ground in rome, there's a sense that there does need to be reform in the curia, the central of the vatican. and even more than what i would have expected. the sense from the cardinals what they're saying publicly, yes, there's a real need for this and on the other hand, there's a desire for a joyful presentation of the message of the church. i think we could get a little bit disappointed in the sense i think that the cardinals might be saying, actually we need somebody to come in and actually make some major changes and he might not be the-- we'll he see. >> well, we did see the vatican is a state smallest one, maybe the smartest one and yet, it has a secretary of state just like we do. the secretary of state of the vatican yesterday began speaking about the bank scandal and believed that maybe some the cardinals were open to blackmail. one of the other cardinals mentioned it. there was a divisive, i'm on your side-i'm on your side, applause within the room which laid out, it seemed to me,

this conflict which is before us, and that is that there's one group that says keep this inside the government that we have now. keep it in the curia, with the romans, and another group says we've got to have somebody from the outside come in and clean house and we ought to know by tomorrow if one side or another has a true edge on that. >> i think it's very well put. shepard. i wouldn't say that the two cardinals necessary-- one could totally clean up-- >> no, i meant representative of such an idea. >> absolutely. and i would say the ones that are considered to real come in and clean it up might be from totally outside what we're expecting. somebody who has a strong hand and could say, i might not even, you know, could be an older candidate, but i'm going to come in and i know what's going on here and i'm going to get it done. >> and that proba be one of the two who we get in the beginning because as you were just discussing, megyn, there are these two the frontrunners, the man from

milan and the man from brazil. if one gets 77 votes in the early going then he's the pope. if one of them doesn't, then, i don't know how long we're here, another couple of days anyway. >> exactly, shep and two others, italian newspapers today besides those two mentioned scola and scherrer, there was ouellet of canada and cardinal dolan, obviously from new york. and they're recognizing that these people from the outside might be able to come in and do something big. >> all right. father morris, thank you so much. and megyn, back to you in new york. >> megyn: shepard, before i let you go. i want to ask you of the 117 cardinals eligible to vote here, 115 will vote, pope benedict appointed 67 of them. do the insiders there in rome think that tells us anything? >> it does, the rest of whom you speak were appointed by pope john paul ii. it tells all of them are of their mindset.

it's almost, megyn, dealing with judges elected and judges appointed two completely different, all of these are similar mindsets with the differences more nuanced as i understand it. some of them who believe that government, if you will, of the vatican can handle this by itself, the way it is. and some of them who believe that the the government, if you will, needs massive reform. whether you believe it or not, can you get it done and that remains to be seen and will even after this process is over. >> megyn: we could know within 24 hours, but not going to know today. shepard will be back on momentarily to continue live coverage in rome. and here is what's happened for those of us who just have joined us. we've m a vote for the next pope at the vatican, they have not reached a consensus. they need 77 votes, they do not have them for any one man at least not today. it's not inspected they would reach a consensus as of today and get that 77 number, but they have taken a vote, which

we were not certain they would do and tomorrow, they will begin again, up to four rounds of voting are allowed beginning tomorrow. again, the magic number is 77 to reach consensus for a new pope. nell begin in the morning and resume again in the afternoon. so, if you're looking for scheduling advice, turn it on fox news in the morning and keep it on all day, we may have some news early in the morning and if not, then we'll have it again during this program, we expect, tomorrow afternoon so set the tivo. who will be the new leader of the catholic church and of the 1.2 billion catholics across the globe? look at the crowds in st. peter's square waiting for news and news came. perhaps the news they expected, perhaps not. perhaps the news they wanted, perhaps not, as they wait outside on a rainy day. but history, the first bit of it has been made today and we watched it together and our continuing coverage resumes next.